Players Missing - 20th August

Holyport travel to Rayners Lane on Saturday missing three players from their squad, the three players who are all away are Crawford, Handscomb and Campo-Avery.

The rest of the squad are fully fit and relishing the chance to pick up three points away from home. Last season Port secured the double over Rayners Lane following a 4-1 win away from home and later in the season a fine 3-1 win at home.

Squad from Bradley, Ovens, Deverall, Reeves, Coleman, Reid, Nichols, Rolfe, Jerrum, Rapley, Filmore, Ackerman, Butler, Driver, Flint, Brennan, Buller, Wright & Jones

Holyport Sign Two More - 19th August

Holyport have signed local goal keeper Kyle Bradley and central midfielder Ben Filmore.

Kyle spent the summer at Windsor and Eton and has decided to sign for Holyport, Kyle made an impressive debut at East Grinstead in the FA Cup last Saturday. Bradley is a young keeper who has already gained a lot of experience whilst playing for Bracknell Town last season. Holyport fought off several other clubs in signing Kyle. Ben has signed from Marlow United and was on the bench for the FA Cup game last weekend and is yet to make his debut for the club.

Holyport boss Derek Sweetman said he was ‘proud’ of his players after they fell to a 2-0 defeat at East Grinstead in the club’s first ever appearance in the FA Cup. Goals at the end of each half where enough to see off Port who battled bravely against a side who play their football one level above them in Division 1 of the Sussex League. Sweetman admitted his side were nervous going into the historic encounter but said they more than deserved a draw and a chance of a replay at Summerleaze on Tuesday night. He said: “Obviously it was a tremendous occasion for ourselves, it was the first time in the history of the club that we were in the FA Cup. I think the excitement of it all got to the lads in the first 15 minutes as we weren’t at the races, but after that I thought we gave a good account of ourselves. To be fair I thought a draw would have been a fair result. We conceded a goal at the end of the first half from a debatable free-kick but came out fired up in the second. We had a stranglehold on the game and created two or three good chances which we should have taken before they got a penalty in the final 30 seconds.” Sweetman added: “It’s a bitter pill to swallow because the boys worked so hard during the game. I was proud of every single one of them they deserved a draw and a replay.

History Making Day For ‘Port’ - 13th August

Holyport FC will be making history on Saturday 14th August as the Holyport faithful leave Summerleaze Village on board the coach to make the journey south to face East Grinstead FC in the EON FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round.

It has been quite a turn around for the Villagers as they have developed Summerleaze Village over the past six seasons. Three seasons ago Port made their debut in the FA Vase and now they have made the step up to enter the prestigious FA Cup. East Grinstead FC will be a stern test for Holyport as they have strengthened over the summer with six debutants starting in last Saturdays 1-0 win over Peacehaven & Telscombe, but if the team play with freedom like the pre season games have shown then anything is possible.

All at Holyport will be going to enjoy a good day out, and whatever happens, happens.

But talk about the luck of the draw! For Holyport it’s the BAD luck of the draw. So far every single cup competition has seen the Port second out of the bag.
They are as follows:
FA CUP EPR - East Grinstead Away Winners away in the QF round
FA VASE - Abingdon Town Away
HELLENIC FLOODLIT CUP - Ardley United Away
BERKS AND BUCKS CUP - Sandhurst Devils Away
HELLENIC CHALLENGE CUP - Farnborough Res. Away
And on it goes with the Reserves who have also been drawn away in every Cup Comp, as follows
BERKS AND BUCKS CUP – Boyne Hill Away
NORFOLKIANS’ CUP – Wraysbury Away
HELLENIC RES. CHALLENGE CUP – Flackwell Heath Away
There is still hope in the Wycombe Senior Cup as Port have a bye in the first round and despite being, “yes you’ve got it” drawn away again, if the winners do not have floodlights the game is switched to Holyport as they do.

Milton First Up For Sweetman - 5th August

Derek Sweetman will take charge of his first competitive Holyport game on Monday when they begin their Uhlsport Hellenic League Division One East campaign with a trip to Milton United.

Port have enjoyed a successful pre-season, picking up wins against the likes of Burnham Windsor & Eton and Maidenhead United. They complete their friendlies with a trip to Hellenic Premier side Binfield tonight before the serious stuff begins on Monday night.

Sweetman, who was appointed boss at Summerleaze in the summer, has been delighted with what he’s seen from his new team and insists they have enough quality to win promotion. He said: “I don’t really set myself targets but I’ve said to the boys that I want to get promoted - it’s as simple as that. Two teams go up from this division, which makes it a bit easier than some other leagues, and I want to be one of those two. With the way the boys are shaping up at the moment we will go into the league full of confidence as they have been playing really well. I’ve been delighted with how they’ve performed. They’ve worked really hard and are really trying to implement what we’re asking them to do.”

Sweet As A Nut! - 19th July

Holyport manager Derek Sweetman is delighted that 90% of last season’s squad have resigned at Holyport this season.

Amongst the players who have re-signed are last season’s players and managers player of the season Carl Reeves and Hellenic Division One player of the season Jamie Handscomb. Handscomb put pen to paper prior to Ports excellent 3-0 win over Burnham on Thursday night and immediately set about business scoring within 9 minutes and completing a brace 1 minute into the second half. An impressive Port side added a third from a Jamie Wright penalty 3 minutes from time. Having lost by six goals to Slough two days earlier Sweetman must have been particularly pleased with the way the side defended as a unit and showed their potential.

Ports tough pre-season continues at home to Maidenhead United on Thursday 22/7 when it is expected that Drax Hippolite will, as usual, send a strong side for this annual local fixture.

Broom Sweeps Up Award - 22nd June

At last Wednesdays Uhlsport Hellenic League AGM Holyport Secretary Graham Broom was jointly awarded the Hungerford Cup with Shortwood's Mark Webb.

The award is made to the club who has shown the most development throughout the season, both on and off the pitch, and in particular recognises the tremendous amount of hard work that club secretary's put in each season.

All at Holyport would like to thank Graham and his family for his dedication and fantastic work that he has put into Holyport Football Club. Whilst Football is in close season Graham is still working daily with the ‘day to day’ requirements of a football club.

From all at Holyport - Well done Graham, fantastic stuff.

Port Winner - 7th June

At the annual Uhlsport Hellenic League presentation evening on Friday 4th June, Holyport top scorer Jamie Handscombe picked up the prestigious Division One East player of the year award.

Jamie (pictured with League Chairman Bob Dalling) follows Arron Lennon and David Butler to become the third player to receive this award since The Port joined the league in 2002.

Club Secretary Graham Broom collected a sponsors voucher from new league sponsors Uhlsport to the tune of £1,027, part of almost £20,000 distributed by the Hellenic League to member clubs from the league sponsorship prize fund that covers various aspects including the league 'Fair Play' and 'Sportsmanship Incentive' scheme.

Holyport will be looking to ensure the side look the part for the coming season with the sponsor's voucher.